Polanski had offer from competing festival

If he attended Macedonian event, his fate could be different

Roman Polanski, who is sitting in a Swiss jail facing extradition over sex charges in the U.S., has plenty of time to think over the choices he has made in his life.

Presumably the biggest sources of thinking would be the events of 30 years ago. But more recent choices may also be nagging at him, including his decision to attend the Zurich film fest to receive a lifetime achievement award.

Things could have been very different if he had accepted a competing offer of an award from the Manaki Brothers Intl. Cinematographer’s Film Festival in Bitola, Macedonia.

The events overlapped and the latter fest of far less famous, but would have had one advantage: “If he had come here he would have been safe,” notes fest director Labina Mitevska. “Macedonia does not have an extradition treaty with America.”

Macedonia Fest chiefs say they were keenly recruiting Polanski to attend. According to Mitevska, Polanski’s assistant eventually responded that the director was “too busy working on his current film” but would “consider coming next year.”